Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity

For this blog, we are allow to talk about anything we want but has to connect to Southern Connecticut in someway possible.  So, I decided that i would take the time and talk about my interest in Phi Beta Sigma at Southern and how I would like to be apart of this fraternity.  I have always been eager to join a fraternity in college but don't know which one.  I'm looking for a fraternity that can impact me personally and professonally.  I feel that Phi Beta Sigma is that fraternity that can do it for me.  It has class and is very respected fraternity nationally.  "Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity is dedicated to strong bonds of brotherhood, living with integrity, serving humanity, promoting quality education and developing leaders"http://www.pbs1914.org/

Joining a Fraternity, you have to be very dedicated to be apart of.  But it's something that can change your life in many ways.  You can learn so much from your fraternity brothers and develop as a person in many ways.  That's something that I'm looking for out of the Phi Beta Sigma.  As a freshman, joinng this fraternity, I can mature so much as a person that come my senior; I can develop as a person in many ways possible." Exhibit integrity and ethical behavior in conducting the Fraternity's business. serving as a model for all Greek-letter organizations."http://www.pbs1914.org/mission/ Being apart of this fraternity, will create so many network for me.  I will be able to meet a lot of people from around the country.  "Encourage a closer and mutually beneficial working relationship with fellow Greek-letter organizations, other community service organizations, businesses and government."http://www.pbs1914.org/mission/

This week blog was very good because I was able to create my own blog post and express what's been on my mind for a while.  Joining a fraternity will benefit me in many ways and a good experience to be apart of.  It will teach you some much about yourself and you will be able to develop as a person in many ways possible.  "Strengthen and serve proactively the brotherhood, as a supportive resource that positively impacts the Fraternity's growth and financial solvency" http://www.pbs1914.org/mission/

Radio Station

Southern Connecticut has their own radio station called WSIN Radio.  Its a student produce radio station where any student is allowed to have their own radio show about anything.  It could be a talk show, music show or sport show.  I decided to listen to some of the shows that they air.  The top 5 shows that I would like to listen to are, 1:Pat in the Mid-Day- Mon 10 to 11am. 2: Sean Carroll- Mon 12 to 1pm. 3:Antonio-Tues 10 to 11am.  4:Jon Rivnyak -Tues 6 to 8pm. 5: Mitch-Wed 2 to 3pm.  The show decided to listen to was Mitch show on Wednesday.  It was a really good show, it focused on music and sports.  I would have to rate it on a 1 to 10 scale a 6. I would listen it again. 

Midterm Grades

Last week was students midterm test for Southern Connecticut.  Many students had test, exams or project for the midterm.  For me, I did pretty solid for my midterm grades.  I got A's, B's etc.  I think that I did pretty will with my class.  There were some classes that I did great and some I need to work a little harder on.  My best class I did in was English and Ant.  The class I did horrible in was Micro-Economics.  There is some work I have to do if I want to turn some of my lower grades into higher grades the rest of the semester.  I know I have to study more harder and make sure I do the homework and hand it in on time.

When it comes to my harder class, that is Micro Economics; I know I have to work more harder in.  I have to study and day for that subject and go to my professor's office to get some more assistance on the work.  I feel like I need to work on some practice problems in the book so it can prepare me for her test that she gives us.  For math, i got a C in the class.  I should of got a A but I did slack on some of the homework assignment in the class.  I felt that if I did more of the homework and study more then I would of have a A in the class.  For the rest of the semester I will be on all my assignment and make sure I study more in those class.  I think if I do that then I will be able to bring up some of my grades in those. 

Midterm grades definitely gives you idea of how you are doing in each of your classes and what grades you need to bring up before the semester is over. With a good work ethic and good time management skills then I don't think I will have any trouble bring up any of my grades before the semester ends. 

Video project

Critical Thinking

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTJenBr-GW0

This is the link to my video.

Outside Your Comfort Zone

Going into your first year of college, you try to reinvent yourself from high school.  You kind of want to restart yourself and experience things you usually don't do or didn't do before.  For me I decided to join the radio station on campus.  I'm not usually the person that does live speaking in front of people or broadcast to people.  But I knew that it was something that was new and I could benefit from.  It was something that was new and out of my comfort zone but I knew that it was something that I should get involve.  Jeff and I host our shows on Sunday afternoon every week.

I decided to get involve with the radio club on campus.  At first, i was pretty nervous and scared because it was something that was new to me and I didn't know if i could do it.  I was little shy in high school and always got scared talking in front of a huge crowd.  I felt that if I was able to overcome this obstacle then I would gain more confident in me.  The day of the show, I was very scared because I didn't know what to expect from the radio show.  Will I just sit there and let my other friend do all the talking or will I step up to the plate.  When we got ready to go on the air, I started to realize that I could accomplish this task and do a good job at it.  I started to get more confidence in me and realize I could do a good job at it.  I did a good job at it and felt it was a good experience for me.

I think that it's a good job to reinvent yourself in college.  You never know what you will expect if you go out your comfort zone and experience something that is totally new. 

Professors Office Hours. Safari #1

This week many freshman had midterm conferences with their teachers to see how they are doing in their class.  I had a meeting with my English professor Incampo on Wednesday. Her office is B307 in Engleman Hall.  Her office hours is Mondays and Wednesdays from 7:30 to 8:50pm.  The questions I asked her was what is the next level of English after English 110.  The answer was it's English 112.  The second questions I asked her was what will our final exam be like.  The answer was it will be a memoir essay and portfolio of our time in English 110.  Other discussion we had in our meeting was my progress in the class and my grades so far. I'm doing very well. 

Time Management/Video Production

I have spent many hours, days, and weeks putting this video projects together.  It's been tough to put together but that hasn't stop me at all.  I have spent many hours brainstorming, interviewing, editing and loading up many of my videos to my computer.  It has been a lot of work for this midterm project.  Doing this projects requires good time management skills and being able to get it done.  I had to create my own schedule for this project so I won't fall behind.  I feel like I done a very good job at it.  Following a good schedule will ensure that I will complete the midterm video project on time.  Plus, do a good job with the project.

With the midterm project, I always spend at least two hours a day working on the project.  I made sure that I give myself enough time with the project.  I don't want to rush the project at all because I that means that it will be a horrible.  I had a outline plan when I started to brainstorm the project.  I created over 12 questions to ask my interviewer and made a list on who I will be interviewing.  That only took me a half hour to do.  It took me a couple of days to do my interview.  I made sure I interview everybody weeks a head of time so i will have a enough time to edit it.  When it came to the editing part, that was the longest part.  I had to know how to use imovie editing system before I started to edit my videos.  That took me a couple of hours but I learned how to use it.  I think I did a pretty good job at managing my time with the project.  I had a specific time and days to do what I needed for my project.  I think I was able to use my time wisely for this project.  Some things that I could of done differently was not be lazy sometimes.  I always kind of push back some of the days for my project so I could change that.  With that, I would of had more time to do more improvement with my project.

The midterm project has require good time management skills in order to finish the project and get a good grade on it.  You had to create a good schedule for yourself and management good.  I think I did a good job at it.

Troubles With Video

While working on the Midterm project, I knew that the troubles that I will have on the projects would have to be the technical part of it.  When it comes to the Mac computer, the imovie is pretty confusing to understand and try to edit my videos.  Another problem that I had with the video project was the youtube account.  We must upload our video until youtube and send a link to our blogs.  I don't have a youtube account so I don't know how to use youtube.  So that's going to be a problem for me.  The last problem that I had was with the text.  I didn't know how to add text to my videos.  With all the troubles that I had, I was able to find solutions to it.

When I first started to work with imovie on the Mac computer; the editing system was very confusing to me.  It was more undated then the windows movie.  In the beginning I had many problems with the editing and didn't know what to do.  I had trouble uploading the video and adding different scenes in the movie.  I didn't know how to had a theme to my video.  I decided to go to the help link in imovie.  I used their tutorial workshops.  That taught me how to upload, add theme and put in different scene to my video.  It became more easy for me to edit my video know.  When it came to the youtube account, that was a problem.  I didn't have a youtube account and never upload video before so i didn't know what to do.  One of my friends had a youtube account, so I ask her for some help.  She was able to help me upload any video I wanted to my account.  Plus I also look visited the help link in youtube and it showed me how to upload videos and anything else.  That last problem i had was with the text.  I had trouble adding text to my video.  I wanted to create some slides for my movie.  Once again I need to watch the tutorial videos to get some help and I did.

This midterm project has brought difficulty and joy to me.  It's challenging but fun at the same time and I'm enjoying every of it. 

Granoff Student Health Center: Safari



Granoff Student Health Center is the Southern Connecticut health services.  The center is there to help you with any medical needs for the students and advice about good health.  In the health center, I found many informations about good health for students.  How to stay healthy on campus.  What kinds of food you should eat to be healthy.  I also found out information on some health problems that college students face.  Information on STDs, and HIV/AIDs.  Granoff Health Center has many health information that each students know about for good use.  Granoff is located on Wintergreen Avenue near the residence hall.  It's open Mondays to Fridays from 8:30 to 4:30. 



Video Projects

For our midterm projects, we must create a 8 minute video surrounding the topic critical thinking.  We have to go around campus and interview students and faculity on critical thinking.  We have to try and come up with different kind of questions that goes deeper in the meaning of critical thinking.  Our first draft of our video is due this thursday.  I already started working on by project and what I want it to look like.  My topic will be what is critical thinking in their opinion and how can you use critical thinking in the field of business.  I already have all the people I want to interview already.

I made some progress in my video already.  I already know who I will be interviewing.  I will interview up to five people for my video.  Two undergraduate, Jon and Jeff two upperclassman in Joy and Maayra.  I'm going to interview my english professor Incampo.   I'm going to ask them different kind of critical thinking and how they can use that in the field of business.  I haven't develop some of my slides yet but I have a written outline of how I want to produce the film.  Some troubles that I have in producing the video is how to upload the  video on the youtube.  The reason is because I don't even have a youtube account in the first place.  The second trouble is how to burn our video on to a cd.  I dont know how to burn a video on to a cd so that would be the difficult part of this project. 

In general, I think thatIi'm making good progress with my video so far.  I am creating a good outline to my video so when I start to upload it on to movie maker I will know what to do with it. 

Works Cited

                                                                           Works Cited

Churchill, Mario.  "5 tips for Using Critical Thinking for Business Success."  Ezine Articles. Publish 7 August 2005.

Ask.com. "Definition of Critical Thinking".  Ask.com. Publish 2011

Critical Thinking in Business

Last class we went to the libary to learn more about research and how to look up books.  We all had to find and check out books on critical thinking for our video projects.  Since i'm a business major, my projects is going to be about critical thinking in the world of business.  So what is critical thinking?  "Critical thinking in general, refers to a higher-order of thinking that questions assumptions. It is a way of deciding whether a claim is true, false, or sometimes true."(ask.com)http://www.ask.com/wiki/Critical_thinking.  Critical thinking is basically problem solving.  In business, you have a lot of problem solving to do and trying to figure it out.  So i will be asking my peers on what they think is critical thinking and how does it relates to the field of business. 

So critical thinking is problem solving in many cases.  You have to be able to figure out what is true or what is false in many cases.  You have to be able to apply, analyze, critize and solve a problem.  In business, critical thinking is very important for success.  There are 5 tips you need in business using critical thinking.  1.  Know the difference between fact and fiction.  "Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction - even in the business world - but there's nothing else to do but believe it if it's indeed the truth".(Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/471726).  You have to be able to make sure any of your information you get is correct and accurate or its not.  2.  Always verify your source.  Every informations that you have has to have a source to back it up.  Always good to make sure you have a source and if it's reliable and verifiable.  3.  Don't Stop Asking Questions.  In business, you always have to ask questions on everything that you do.  "No matter how great the alternative or solution sounds, don't take it at face value. Question everything"(Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/471726) If you keep on asking questions you will get more informations and reliable facts.  4. Verification isn't Enough.  Check Your Accuracy. Its always good to make sure that all your informations that you get is accurate and not made up.  Its always good to do a lot of research on your source for accuracy.  5. Pride Cometh Before a Fall.  "Lastly, don't allow pride or ego to influence your position"(Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/471726). Everyone in business as some ego of sorts.  Don't let that get in your way. 

Critical thinking plays a huge roll in everyday life.  You need critical thinking in order to be successful in life.  Being able to go out on campus and interview people on their own definition of critical thinking is very good.  I'll be able to get different views and opinion on the topic and see how people use critical thinking in their everyday life. 

The Writing Center

It was my first time going to the Campus Writing Center at Southern Connecticut.  I had a five page research paper I had to revise.  Going to the Writing Center was very helpful for me.  I was able to get a second opinion on my paper and made sure I could correct all my mistake I made.  My English professor was the one that I worked with at the Writing Center so that was helpful for me.  They help me on my thesis and topic statement in the essay.  So I was able to get a better outline of my paper.  I will definitely go again to the Writing Center.  It's very helpful to me and I be able revise and my paper much better. 

Stress Relief

When it comes to college, stress is a major thing for many students.  You have to battle time management, your classes and all the work you have to do.  For some people, it's very difficult for them and they become stressed out because of it.  With stress, there comes health problems along the way.  Many doctors would always say to find something that reduces your stress level.  With all the test and midterm exam coming up; it's good for a very students to find something that relieves stress on them.  So when I become stress, I always try to take a long walk outside, go work out in the gym and play some football. 

When  is bugging me or when I getting ready for a test; I always take a long walk along the campus.  That helps me take my mind off of everything and just relax.  To me it works a lot.  I'm able to calm myself down and get a way from all the academic work and social life for a while.  This method is very good because no one is with you when you take your walk; so you could be by yourself and think.  The second thing I do when I'm stress is work out in the gym.  That's something I always like to do when I'm feeling bad or when something is overwhelming me.   Just being in the gym and lifting weight reduce a lot of my problems and make me think also.  The last thing I do to relieve stress is to play a pick up game of football.  That's something that many college students should do when they are stress is try to have fun.  Get your mind off of what is hurting you. 

Stress is something that all students have to over come in college at some point.  Being able to find out methods to reduce your stress level will help you in the end.

To be healthy in College

When you are in college you don't have your parents looking out for you anymore.  It's your responsiblity to take care of yourself now.  We all had our parents always tell us to put on a coat when it rains or not to go outside unless you dress warm.  They made sure you eat healthy, take care of your body hegine etc.  For most people that's very  difficult for them and need some assistance on it.  So coming to college, students are more likely to get sick more easier then before.  So they should take more precaution now that they are in college.

Tips on how to keep healthy when you are in college is to make sure you have a good body hegine.  That means make sure you take a bath everyday and brush your teeth in the process.  Many students probably would wake up and go straight to class and thats not good because you will get sick along the way.  Another tip is to always keep your room clean.  I know thats hard for many students because you used to have your parents always tell you to clean up your room everyday.  Cleaning your room will prevent many sickness that comes.  It's Always good to clean up all the trash and dust in your room.  The most important thing is to always dress up warm when its cold and raining outside.  When you start feeling sick go to the campus health place to get it check out.  Do let it get worse at all,  you dont have your parents anymore to tell you to go to the doctors. 

Doing all these steps will make sure that you won't get sick at all the times and miss classes.  When you keep on missing all these classes then your assignments will keep on piling up and you will be behind in all your classes. 

Safari #4 CC

I live in Wilkinson hall and my CC(Community Coordinator) is Sheldon.  I was talking to Sheldon this week about his job and some of the responsibilities that he has as a CC.  His main responsibilities is to provide leadership to undergraduate residence hall floor community of first and second year students.  He also is a desk attendants at some time.  That job is to supervise the hall and help any students with guest questions and concerns.  I also asked him how can anybody become a CC.  To become a CC you need to have 12 SCSU credits for applying and 24 credits for employment.  But many people start off as a desk attendant first and work their way up the ranks.